Denied
by Ottsel Cath
Summary: Zac was more and more confused. He could not stop thinking about her. He knew something was wrong when he denied one of Evie's call to spend more time with Lyla. He knew he had feelings for her, but he also knew it was wrong. He did not want to lose Lyla or his new life. This is a retake of the 25th episode of the first season, Betrayed. One-shot.


**Denied**

* * *

Zac was silently sitting in his bungalow looking at the pictures he printed of everything he found about mermen and the trident. He did not want to believe that all of this could be over soon. He felt like he found the missing part of him throughout this entire adventure. He was a bit depressed about all of this. He wished he could balance the two worlds, but it seemed pretty much impossible.

Then came a knock on the door.

"Yeah?" Zac answered immediately.

The door opened and it revealed Lyla; one of the sources of his problems. As much as he tried to not think about her, he just couldn't. There was something really special about her that couldn't make him forget about her fierce attitude and her beautiful face.

His eyes lit up as soon as he saw her. He stood and walked closer to her.

"Hi." He said.

"Hey." She responded.

The ambiance was a bit awkward between the two teenagers. They both knew the ending of their friendship was coming even if they both had feelings for each other.

"About you joining the pod, it's not gonna happen." Lyla said on an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry."

Zac looked down and then sat back on the sofa. Lyla sat right in front of him on the coffee table.

"So, I can't be a merman and I might never be human again." Zac said. "Great."

He sighed.

"Nixie's right." Lyla said even if she did not believe in her words. "You belong in this world, not ours. You have to go back t being a land boy. Just, forget all this ever happened."

"Are you gonna forget this too? " Zac asked Lyla clearly thinking about them and not him being a merman.

"It's for the best." Lyla answered thinking of Evie.

They both looked like a close friends or relative died. They did not want to lose each other.

"It's pretty hard to forget I had a tail and could breathe underwater." Zac stated to Lyla.

"It's pretty hard to forget I had legs and could run." Lyla told him.

"Will you keep the secret?" Lyla asked. "At least until the full moon?"

At that moment, Zac's phone started to vibrate. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID.

Evie.

He lost himself in his thoughts for a couple of long seconds while he stared at his phone. It looked like he was debating something in his mind. The truth was, he was thinking about his relationship with Evie and how he just couldn't do it anymore.

He switched her off and looked up at Lyla.

"Aren't you gonna answer her?" Lyla asked bluntly.

"No." Zac said dryly.

"But she's your girlfriend." Lyla tried.

"Honestly, I don't know if I want to be in a relationship with her anymore." Zac said to Lyla.

"Why not?" Lyla asked.

"I hate lying to her." He started to say and Lyla immediately answered.

"But if you go back to being a land boy, you won't have to anymore." Lyla offered even if it hurt her to think he would stay with Evie.

"You did not let me finish." Zac said. "I'm not only lying to her because I am a merman. I feel like this whole relationship is a lie. I don't have feelings for her anymore."

"You don't?" Lyla asked a bit surprised, but she was screaming of happiness in her mind.

"No." He responded. "I met someone else."

"Oh." Lyla said.

"And I don't think you should be in a relationship with someone if you fell for somebody else." Zac added.

"I guess that makes sense." Lyla said. "So, what are you gonna do about it?"

"Well." Zac said as he took one of Lyla's hands in his. "I'm going to tell you who I fell for."

Lyla blushed at his comment since she knew it was her. The feeling of his hand between his was indescribable for her. She had never felt something like that before.

"Do I know her?" She asked, playing along.

"Yes, pretty well actually." He smiled at the blond mermaid in front of him.

Then, both of the merpeople leaned in. Zac was more than aware of what he was doing. Lyla, on the other hand, wasn't exactly sure of what to do, so she just went with the flow.

Their lips met and it sent a bolt of energy in both of their bodies. They both had been secretly dying to do that.

At that exact moment, the door swung opened.

"Zac, -are you okay, you weren't answering your-

Evie rushed in the bungalow only to see Zac and Lyla kissing. They were both shocked and Zac looked horrified.

"Evie, I can-

"Save it." She said dryly. "I knew you had feelings for her, but I never thought you would actually cheat on me."

"This is the first time we-

"I don't care." Evie said as she walked towards the door. "Oh, and in case I wasn't clear, we are done. For real this time."

With that, she slammed the door and left the two merpeople shocked.

"Ugh. I'm such an idiot." Zac grunted as Evie left the small bungalow.

Lyla was still stunned by what happened.

"I should not have kissed you before breaking up with her." Zac stated and Lyla was a bit hurt by his words. Did he not want to kiss her?

"Tell her that. Go and talk to her." Lyla suggested.

"Yeah. Like she'd listen to me." Zac laughed.

"You can at least try." Lyla said to the boy.

* * *

Lyla swam to the moon pool that night feeling very uncomfortable. She could shake the feeling of Zac's lips on hers. For her, it felt so right, but she knew it was wrong. She knew she hurt Evie even more and she was afraid of what Evie might do to her. She didn't want to risk exposing her secret. That's why Lyla decided to leave the moon pool swam a bit farther than usual just to make sure she would not be found. She did not feel like having a speech from Nixie or a hope speech from Sirena. She just wanted to be by herself to make sense of what just happened between her and Zac. She loved kissing him.

Lyla swam to a small off shore island that land people could only reach with a boat, but where mermaids would not go because it's too close to land. Her and Zac discovered a cave on that island while they were swimming together and they've kept it a secret. They both loved going there to relax and not necessarily with each other. It was a good thinking spot.

Lyla ended up sleeping in that cave by herself. It was very similar to the moon pool, but there was not any opening at the top.

* * *

Sirena and Nixie woke up the next morning shocked to see Lyla has not made it home the night before.

"Do you think she's okay?" Sirena asked.

"What do you think?" Nixie asked. "You know Lyla. She would be here if everything was okay."

"I guess." Sirena added.

"I'm just worried about her. She's been acting very differently ever since we made up with Zac." Sirena told her best friend.

"Does that surprise you?" Nixie asked.

"What do you mean?" Sirena asked clearly confused by Nixie's comment.

"Come on Sirena. I thought you would have noticed this. She's in love with him." Nixie said.

"Why don't you let this go?" Sirena asked. "Just because she wants to help him, it doesn't mean she loves him." Sirena said to her best friend.

"Sirena, listen to me." Nixie demanded. "You love David, right?"

"Well, yeah." Sirena said.

"You would do anything to help David, to make him happy." Nixie said.

"Of course." Sirena said to Nixie.

"You love to spend time with him too." Nixie added.

"Of course I do, we're dating." Sirena said.

"Would Lyla do everything she could to help Zac, to make him happy?" The brunette mermaid asked.

"I believe so since she wanted him to join the pod." Sirena said and then she realized where Nixie was going with this. "You are right. She is in love with him."

"I told you. I'm sure something happened last night. She said she was going to tell him he could not join the pod." Nixie said to Sirena.

"What if she ran away?" Sirena asked.

"I might not be extremely keen on Lyla, but she's not that stupid. She probably just wants to spend time by herself or something. She just told the guy she loved that they would never see each other again. She's probably crushed." Nixie explained.

"We should find her and console her." Sirena suggested.

"No. You know Lyla. She's a loner. She would probably rather be alone right now." Nixie said.

"I guess." Sirena answered.

* * *

Zac stayed up all night thinking about what happened with Lyla the night before. He knew Evie would never talk to him again, but he felt the need to talk to her. He knew he had to explain to Evie what happened. He needed to tell her it was the first that it happened and that he was going to break up with her.

He knew the only place to find Evie at the moment was her shop at the café. She always worked there in the morning and he knew she would not answer his call.

That's why he found himself walking through the café's doors.

As soon as he entered, Evie looked up to see him from behind her counter. She looked away immediately. Their eyes met for a split second.

Zac took and deep breath and walked towards her. When he was close enough, he spoke up.

"I know I'm an idiot and I don't deserve you." Zac said.

"Glad we got that sorted." Evie said dryly as she folded a blue shirt and put it on the counter.

"I just want to assure you that it never happened before. It was the first time, I promise. I was going to break up with you today, but we got caught up in the moment. I never meant for this to happen. I know I lied to you and I know I hurt you, but I am really sorry. I don't deserve you to forgive me, but I just wanted to make sure you knew the truth. Yes, I've had feelings for her for a while now and I feel like a complete idiot. You are a great person, a great girlfriend, but I don't deserve your kindness." Zac said to her as tears filled his eyes.

Evie was still looking at everything except for him. Tears were filling her eyes too. She loved Zac and she thought they would be together forever. Her world was falling apart, but she knew the mature thing to do was to accept what's happened and move on.

"As crushed as I am, I knew you had feelings for her from the moment you saw her. Yes, I am mad and I don't think I could ever forget you. I just wished you would've broken up with me before kissing her."

"I'm so sorry, Evie." Zac said.

"Goodbye, Zac." Evie said. He knew he needed to leave at the moment.

Zac walked towards the exit and turned around right before passing the door only to see Evie being comforted by Carly and a really disapproving Carly.

When he passed the door, Sirena and Nixie stopped him.

"Have you seen Lyla?" Sirena asked and Nixie stayed quiet.

"No, why?" Zac asked.

"She's missing. She did not come home last night and Rita hadn't seen her." Sirena said.

"I'm sorry." Zac said as he walked away from them and towards the closest jetty.

He knew exactly where Lyla would be hiding.

* * *

Zac swam in the deep blue for a couple of minutes before reaching his destination: his and Lyla's secret cave.

He surfaced in the clear water of the cave only to find Lyla sitting on the ledged with her knees to her chest.

"Hey." Zac said in a soft voice.

There was no response.

"Lyla." Zac said louder.

"What?" She snapped.

"Are you okay?" Zac asked her.

"What do you think?" She asked dryly.

"What's wrong?" Zac asked.

"What's wrong? What's wrong is that I've only caused trouble ever since I came to land. I made you cheat on your girlfriend, your friends probably hate you now and I've turned your life upside down." Lyla said without looking at him.

"Lyla, listen to me. You did not make me cheat on Evie. I chose to do it myself. I'm the one to blame, not you. I talked to Evie earlier today. I told her it was the first time it happened and that I was going to break up with her. I think she will move on. She said she knew it was coming and that I had feelings for you and as for my friends, I don't exactly count Cam as a friend right now and I am sure David would forgive me." Zac explained to the mermaid.

Lyla looked at him for a second and then looked down.

"Yes, my life has been turned upside down lately, but it's not because of you. Don't be so hard on yourself. Everything I've done, I've done voluntarily." Zac told her.

"But you lost your girlfriend because of me." Lyla said as she sniffed.

"I told you, I did not have feelings for her anymore." Zac said. "Anyway, I have feelings for somebody else."

"Zac, we cannot be together. I cannot stay on land and you are about to go back to your old life." Lyla told the land boy.

"We don't know if it's going to work. Can't we just risk it?" Zac asked expectantly.

"I don't think so." Lyla said.

Zac then reached for her hand from the pool knowing it was wet. When their skin touched, her eyes widened and she dived into the pool of water.

"Really?" Lyla asked sarcastically.

"Come on, Lyla. Just risk it." Zac demanded the mermaid. He wanted her. He wanted to call her his girlfriend.

"I don think it's such a good idea." Lyla said.

"Why not?" Zac asked.

"The pod wouldn't approve. Nixie would hate me. I would probably never be able to go back to the pod." Lyla said to the merman.

"Can't you let go of what people think?" Zac asked. "What do you want?"

Lyla looked down and then looked at Zac again. She swam close to him.

"You." She whispered. Zac's frown turned into a genuine smile.

He leaned in and did hesitate to connect their lips. She was making him feel like he was on fire and he was making her feel like she shouldn't be afraid of feelings.

When they pulled away, they both looked at each other and smiled widely. They did really love each other.

* * *

 **Alright, so here was another Zyla one-shot. You guys loved the other one I wrote and I loved to write it, so I decided to write another one. I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Peace out!**


End file.
